Industrial processes should be closely monitored so that all process parameters can be verified as being within specification. This monitoring can take on many forms, and usually falls into two broad categories. Physical inspection and monitoring by humans, or physical inspection and monitoring by computer systems. In both cases, inspections and monitoring are aided by many other pieces of equipment such as all types of sensors (temperature, air quality, viscosity, density, visual appearance, etc.).
In some situations however, the environment that must be monitored is too harsh and extreme for either a human or a standard device or piece of equipment. Harsh and extreme environments include high temperature environments such as the inside of a furnace, caustic chemical environments, and high pressure environments. The extremes of these environments however do not lessen the need for the monitoring of the industrial process. Consequently, industries would benefit from a system that could monitor industrial processes under extreme conditions.